A ski resort in Colorado has had an outbreak of Covid-19, with more than 100 active infections among its employees.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced the outbreak at Winter Park Resort in January, but released the data in its weekly outbreak summary Wednesday.
There are at least 109 employees with active infections, they said.
“It has been determined that these cases do not go back to transmission through interaction with visitors, but rather from social gatherings outside the workplace and congregation of housing,” officials from Monday said. Grand County, Colorado, in a joint release with Winter Park Resort.
With the ski season booming in Colorado, other resorts have also reported cases of Covid-19. But the outbreak in Winter Park is currently the largest, according to CDPHE data.
“We’ve been working closely with public health authorities since the pandemic began,” said Jen Miller, the ski resort’s communications manager. “We did a thorough planning and had to get state approval on our operations before we could open on December 3.”
Cases related to socialization and life situations: Most cases go back to social gatherings outside of work and to congregate housing, Miller said.
Precautions, according to Miller, include: reconfiguration of elevator corrals and lifting loading procedures, additional staff, new signage reminding visitors of mask requirements, dining limitations, a reservation system to manage visits and the number of people in the complex, contactless accommodation and a state-approved test site for its 1,700 active employees.
But some visitors have reported that mask warrants were not being enforced.
When asked about these reports, Miller said, “We’ve done extensive work and continue to evolve our operations as needed. I can’t speak to an individual’s experience, but we appreciate the feedback and will continue to make changes with the health and well-being of our employees, guests and community as a top priority “.
Conor Cahill, press secretary for Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, said ski resorts across the state need to “do better job planning and manage weekend climbs.”
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